While you are shopping for hair products, many things come to mind such as packaging, ounces, and price. It is time to now add something else to your list: ingredients. If you are a novice natural and new to the world of ingredient lists, it is important to get acquainted because the ingredient list allows you to see if products include any ingredients such as silicones or sulfates, which may not meet your personal needs.
Not all curly girls avoid silicones and sulfates. Some find that these ingredients give their hair the look and feel that they are going for, the only hard and fast rule is to find what works for you. If you have found that your hair feels healthy when using silicones, it is important to know not all silicones are equal, for example there are water-soluble silicones and non water-soluble silicones. Let’s take a look at one group, known as PEG silicones.
What are PEG silicones?
Polyethylene Glycols are used to dissolve oil. This ingredient is commonly found in some household products. PEG silicones are water soluble, which means it can be rinsed away with water. Since this ingredient is a silicone, which helps aid in frizz control and provides moisture and shine to the hair. There has been a lot of controversy on whether or not these ingredients should be used in beauty products because PEG’s are potentially carcinogenic. Cleansers are no longer necessary to remove water-soluble silicones, which help aid in reducing frizz and enhancing shine to the hair. It has been speculated that PEG silicones are potentially carcinogenic, but Chemist Corner says these claims are not based on conclusive research.
Read more: Should You Worry About Propylene Glycol?
How to find products with PEG silicones
While shopping for products, always flip your product bottle over and read the labels before purchasing. Reading the labels before you purchase can help you find or avoid products with PEG silicones. Think Dirty Shop Clean is a mobile app that allows you to scan a beauty product and it will show easy to understand descriptions about the product.
What PEG silicones should I look for?
Here is a list of PEG’s Tonya McKay that will work best with the no shampoo or mild shampoo hair routines:
- PEG-8 (or higher”> Dimethicone
- Bis-PEG-8 (or higher”> Dimethicone
- Bis-PEG-8/PEG-8 Dimethicone
- Bis-PEG-18 methyl ether dimethyl silane
- PEG-8-PG-coco glucoside dimethicone
- Dimethicone PEG-X phosphate
